Before Portland Trail Blazers President Larry Miller headed back to Nike Inc. earlier this week, my colleague Erik Siemers and I spent a few minutes reviewing his Blazers role (that would be me, and I wrote about it in this week’s Business Journal) and talking about the future (that was Erik’s aim, here’s his story).

We also spent a good deal of time reminiscing about how the Blazers fared between the lines.

“I remember being at a game and we were playing Utah, up by 20 points in the fourth quarter and the fans were still on their feet cheering with three minutes to go,” Miller recalled. “The fans here are so supportive and so into the team that it’s great to be able to sit back and watch it.”

Then there’s LaMarcus Aldridge, who made his first All-Star team last season.

“What LaMarcus did over the last two seasons, where he put the team on his back and carried the team, without Brandon being at full strength and without Greg (Oden, the injured center) being there, LaMarcus should have been an All-Star two years ago, and he was definitely one last year.”

Miller said he called it.

“The summer before last, I went down to Dallas and watched him work out with one of our coaches,” he explained. “I said, ‘LaMarcus is going to be an All-Star next year,’ you could just tell he was taking his name to the next level. He developed his low-post game, and he’s always been able to shoot the ball. It was also good to watch him become a leader on the court.”